Covered
by sultrysweet
Summary: In their attempt to bring Emma back to Storybrooke and save her from the darkness, only half of the plan is a success and Regina struggles to be one of, if not the only one, that can save the Savior.
1. Chapter 1

**AN: Started this on Tumblr and decided to expand upon it here. Hook and Hood are mentioned here and there, but they aren't at all important to the story. If you know me or just know my work you know my SQ fics are always all about Swan Queen. Hood and Hook can go to Hell.**

 **Rated T for now, but that might change later. Also, I didn't disclose any warnings for this story because any violence wouldn't be too graphic or dark. I will, however, post the necessary warnings in the notes section for every chapter any warnings apply to.**

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Regina walked out of the castle without Emma by her side. Snow, David, and Hook all looked like they'd been kicked when they realized Regina hadn't been able to convince Emma to come home with them either. She was their last hope, except for maybe Henry. But no one wanted to risk his safety so they'd sent Hook in first before David and then Snow had tried to reason with the blonde, the new Dark One, separately. Nothing any of them had said seemed to convince Emma the small town she'd been ripped away from when the darkness had consumed her was the best place for her.

It was then Regina decided she would try her best to encourage Emma to join them, but she wasn't sure the blonde was in any mood to hear a single one of them out. She was sure that the other woman wasn't ready to return and she was sure that the darkness would enjoy her a while longer if Emma hadn't already started to enjoy it first. So she'd walked the short distance through the clearing and up the pathway to the Winter Palace she'd made her home decades ago, before the curse and Storybrooke.

She kept her eyes on the palace entrance as she approached, but she felt several pairs of eyes on her. Among the Charmings and Hook-and Henry who was supposed to stay with Roland at all times in case the twelve year old got any bold and heroic ideas about rushing into the castle by himself-Robin had decided to join them despite him not even knowing Emma. It wasn't as if he could help. But he'd insisted to be there for her and she couldn't say no to him. She thought she probably should have, but she'd denied her chance with her soulmate a few times before and it had never ended well for her. Maybe if she kept him around now that their paths had properly crossed for longer than a fleeting moment at a tavern, her story wouldn't end in heartache this time.

When she'd reached the palace doors, she thought after everyone else who had tried to talk to her that Emma would have put up a barrier to ward off any other unwanted visitors. But there had been no barrier. Regina hadn't even sensed much magic in the air around her. There had only been only hints of it that she knew were just enough to have sent Hook flying into the door, which he'd then responded to by scurrying out of the palace to report back to the group that Emma hadn't even heard him out before she'd forced him on his way. She'd supposed, however, that the lack of magic was replaced with the eerie stillness and quiet that surrounded her.

She'd clenched and unclenched her fists at her sides as she took a deep breath before she slowly moved forward and pushed the doors open enough for her to slip inside. Once she'd made it into the palace without immediately being thrown back out, she closed the doors behind her and crept further inside. As she'd walked into the center of the first floor and stopped directly in front of the grand staircase with a few feet between her and the first step, she'd looked around and failed to spot Emma. At that moment she'd wondered if Emma hadn't expected any other visitors beyond her parents and boyfriend. It certainly would have explained the lack of magical protection around the large estate. But all her theories about why Emma hadn't warded off any further intrusions disappeared when she heard a familiar yet modified voice from the top of the stairs while Regina's gaze had been directed toward the kitchens. As soon as she recognized the only other person inside the dimly lit castle, Regina had whipped her head around to face forward and then she saw her. Dressed in all black, blonde hair matted down with copious amounts of hair gel to keep long locks slicked back in a tight bun, lips as red as blood-or a honeycrisp apple, Regina's mind unhelpfully supplied-and sharp eyes directed at her, there had been Emma Swan. One hand had rested on the banister as she'd leaned her weight on it and her other hand had sat on her slightly cocked hip. Regina's tongue had clicked against the roof of her mouth as she'd gulped and stared wide-eyed at the other woman, her lips parted and mouth dry. Emma had grinned down at her as soon as she had and Regina had instantly felt weak in the knees.

She remembered flashes of their encounter as she rejoined the others well beyond the palace walls and licked her lips when certain images flashed to the forefront of her mind. She was distracted by the memories and barely even realized where she was let alone how she got there. When her attention was finally pulled back into the present, it was to the sound of Snow's breathy voice as she asked over and over again, louder each time, "What happened? Why isn't Emma with you?"

For the first time since she left the palace, she looked up and saw David as he held Snow back with a gentle but firm hand to her shoulder. Next to them was Hook who looked at her with a raised eyebrow and questioning eyes. Behind him she saw Robin. He looked mostly confused, but there was a deep, penetrating emotion in his eyes that Regina identified most closely to devastation. There was no way he could have known what happened while she was inside the palace, could he?

"Regina!"

Her head snapped to the side to see Snow White, frantic and desperate with her loyal husband beside her with a similar expression in his sad eyes. Both were losing hope by the second.

" _Please_ , tell us. What happened," Snow begged until her features morphed into a dangerously curious look. Her brow furrowed and her lips pulled and pursed into a thin line before she tilted her head ever so slightly to the right as she looked at Regina. "Why is there glitter on your cheek?"

Regina immediately felt her body heat up, a blush more than likely on her face and quite possibly her chest if she dared to look down and confirm it was there. She didn't dare, but it seemed Snow had no problem following the trail of glitter along olive toned skin were it stuck to her neck and clavicle.

"You're- You're _covered_ in it," Snow said and looked slightly disgusted even though Regina doubted she knew the source of the glitter. If she did, she probably would have lunged at her by now no matter how much they'd repaired their relationship in the past year. She wouldn't blame her either if that was what Snow decided to do once she figured it out for herself, because there was no way in hell Regina was going to tell _anyone_ what happened with Emma. Especially not in front of their son.

"Regina?"

Her focus shifted to Robin. The devastation had spread from his eyes to the rest of his features. His lips were slightly parted and at some point had formed a frown. Heartbroken was a more accurate description for how he looked, Regina thought.

She opened her mouth to try and explain or to say nothing at all, she wasn't sure, but she never got the chance to see which it would be because an inky, dark blue cloud of smoke swirled around them. In the blink of an eye, they were back in Storybrooke and had to squint at the sudden onslaught of sunlight.


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: Updates for this story will be short. Probably no more than 4000-5000 words each. I also know I have SO MANY fics to get back to and they'll be updated soon. I'm working on it. This just came to me and I had to get it out. Hope you enjoy. :)**

 **WARNING: there's some violence in this, but it isn't too bad. Here's your warning just in case.**

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" _Emma," she breathed out as soon as she was able to. The sight of the Savior in such a sinful outfit that was definitely more villain than hero stole her words and all the air in her lungs. She still remembered how the blonde used to look long before she'd sacrificed herself. She still remembered Emma as the woman who'd barged into her town and turned her entire life upside down wearing nothing more than a white tank top, tight jeans, and a bright red leather jacket. Sometimes she wore even less, but never in public and Regina had only caught sight of those red lace panties once so the image still floated around in her head but it wasn't how she remembered the other woman. Mostly._

 _Emma's throaty chuckle broke her out of her thoughts and her eyes focused on the woman at the top of the staircase again._

" _Unfortunately, being the Dark One doesn't give me the badass power of reading minds, but I can still read expressions," Emma said as she slowly sauntered toward the second floor landing._

 _Regina's eyes drifted from green eyes to a pale hand and watched it slide gently and gracefully across the banister as she approached the start of the staircase. Emma had always exuded power, but never like this. She was different. Darker. Bold in an entirely independent way from how she'd held herself as just Emma Swan. It was alluring, much like the darkness she'd faced as she grew into and embraced the Evil Queen._

" _You like what you see," Emma said. It wasn't a question._

 _She cleared her throat and tried to regain at least some semblance of control over herself if not the situation. She was supposed to find a way to make returning to Storybrooke appealing, not gawk at Emma. "What I see is interesting so I suppose I'm intrigued."_

 _Emma abruptly stopped when she reached the top step and snapped her body forward like a solider called to attention. She kept one hand on the railing, but she slid her other hand off her hip and let it fall to her side. A tense couple of seconds passed in utter silence that put Regina on edge before a plume of dark blue smoke engulfed the blonde. In an instant, Emma stood toe to toe with her. Their faces were so close she could feel Emma's breath on her nose and lips and see the golden flecks in her green eyes, which were a much darker shade of green than usual._

 _She gulped and licked her lips as she watched Emma's eyes roam over her from the top of her head to her neck. It seemed that as soon as Emma noticed her pulse beating through the vein in her neck, the blonde didn't want to look anywhere else. She wondered if Emma was about to suck or lick where her eyes were riveted, but upon her next exhale she felt a hand coil around her throat and she was thrown back against a wall. She swallowed and really felt the weight of Emma's hand around her throat, tight and secure without squeezing._

 _Emma pulled her head away from her neck and grinned as she met Regina's gaze. Their noses brushed due to their proximity and she instinctively closed her eyes when Emma's breath puffed against her face and tickled her eyelashes. A second later she opened her eyes and Emma hadn't moved any farther or closer to her. The only thing that had changed was the look in her eyes. Before, she'd been darkly satisfied with Regina pinned against the wall, but now her eyes glimmered with amusement as she stared at the brunette._

" _I feel something," Emma confessed. "It's familiar, but it's not a memory. Well, it's not_ my _memory. Do you think when the powers of the Dark One transfer from one host to another that their knowledge and memories are transferred too?"_

" _It's- It's possible. But I've…never been the Dark One so I wouldn't know."_

" _Then how do you think it's possible for me to know you've been trapped like this before? You wore a headdress and darker makeup. I think there was a necklace. It was a silk tie, not a chain. And there was some kind of pearl-like pendant that rested against your skin. Right._ Here _." Emma slid her hand toward the back of her neck, but stopped when she was able to press her thumb deep into the hollow point between her sternum and throat._

 _Regina choked and gasped as she felt the pressure of Emma's nail dig into her where her thumb pushed harder, harder, harder. She gritted her teeth and squeezed her eyes shut while she waited for the pain to pass and for Emma to let go. A long moment later, Emma yanked her thumb away and let her breathe. She coughed and took in deep, deep breaths that were both too much and not enough._

" _Maybe I don't have all the memories from the Dark Ones of the past, but I think some of the things rattling around in my head come from Rumpelstiltskin. I'm sure my skin's much nicer than his. Isn't it?"_

 _Emma placed a hand on Regina's chest, palm flat against warm skin, and slid it down the valley between her breasts before she pushed it back up until her fingertips touched the column of her throat. She lifted her palm off of her chest and then ran her fingers down over the swell of her right breast. She cupped it a second later and pressed the heel of her palm against her nipple through Regina's shirt and bra. The brunette groaned at the wave of pleasure that rolled through her, not wanting to feel the way she did but was a slave to the sensations nonetheless._

 _She tried to remind herself why Emma was touching her in the first place, tried to remember what had started the physical teasing that she wished she didn't want as much as she did. Her skin. Emma wanted to know if it was nicer than Rumple's, presumably when he was the Dark One, and then had started to glide her hand and fingers over her upper body. She didn't have to think about it, she felt it. Emma's skin was as smooth as it had always been, but she wouldn't admit that to the other woman. Emma didn't expect her to answer the question anyway. She'd just wanted an excuse to toy with her. That much Regina did know from experience._

 _As Emma's head moved from side to side, the little bit of light the blonde allowed into the palace struck her face and made the milky white skin glow in certain places every couple of seconds. The woman sparkled. She tried to recall if Rumple had appeared the same way when he'd been the Dark One in the Enchanted Forest and recalled one of the reasons she'd given him the name Gold in Storybrooke. But Emma's skin wasn't golden and didn't shine gold. There were specks of something on her face that had a cleaner and more appealing look to them._

 _Glitter._

"Wake up!"

Regina gasped and her eyes popped open. The first thing she saw was Emma's face in her moonlit bedroom as the blonde stared down at her with a wicked grin spread widely across her face. Emma's hands were on her shoulders and pushed her further into the mattress as the other woman bent over the side of the bed and her body to hover uncomfortably close above Regina while she slept. Or tried to, anyway. She hadn't woken up naturally and nothing in her dream had scared her awake. No, Emma had done _that_ by sneaking into her bedroom in the middle of the night and touching her. Regina had been a light sleeper since she was young, at first because Cora's magical abuse was enough to worry her that her mother would discipline her at any time and later when the King interrupted her sleep for highly unpleasant sex.

Despite knowing once she was awake that it was only Emma's hands on her, Regina had yet to relax. Normally, she trusted that Emma wouldn't hurt her because they hadn't come to physical blows in a long time, but she was the Dark One now. If the other woman lost her temper, there was no telling how Emma would flare up. There was no doubt in Regina's mind that Emma wouldn't hesitate to use her magic no matter how much control she had over it. She didn't think a lack of control would be the younger woman's problem anymore. She'd never once seen Rumple struggle with his, even when he was weak from his pitch black heart before Emma let the darkness tether itself to her. If he'd been desperate enough, and there times that he had been, he had still made it work for him even though it mostly likely cost him a lot of energy and caused him a lot of pain.

"Where's the dagger, Regina?"

Emma's stern voice brought her back to the moment and she shook her head, tangling brunette hair as it rubbed back and forth against her pillow, while she stared up into dark eyes.

"Where is it," Emma barked in a hushed tone.

"I don't have it," she answered.

"But you know where it is?"

"What would you do with it once you had it?"

"What does it matter? I want it and you know where it is. Tell me and I won't have to hurt you."

"Like you could easily hurt Henry if you had the dagger? I don't think so."

In one fluid movement, Emma straddled her hips and aggressively gripped a fistful of Regina's hair. She tugged Regina's head to the side and leaned in until her lips grazed the brunette's ear when she hissed her demands. "I won't hurt Henry. He's the one person in this world and any other that I wouldn't touch. But you? I can hurt you and believe me when I say I'll take great pleasure in doing it. So, you can tell me where the dagger is or you can suffer the consequences."

"You would make me suffer with our son less than ten feet away?"

She wasn't sure if it was the use of "our son" or the fact that Henry was in the house that made Emma hesitate, but for some reason the woman above her stiffened and pulled back just enough that Regina saw her eyes spark with some kind of recognition or realization. The look disappeared and Emma's pause ended just as soon as it had happened and Regina's hair was yanked down. She was forced to tip her head back and bare her neck while the strain on her hair made her scalp burn at her roots. She let out a strangled cry and hoped she could be quiet enough to let Henry sleep through whatever Emma was about to inflict on her.

Without warning, teeth sank into her throat and sharply bit down. She yelped before she clamped her mouth shut tight and tried to breathe through the pain. She writhed beneath Emma and scraped her nails against toned biceps as she struggled to free herself or relieve the sting of the bite.

Thankfully, Emma gave her a reprieve and released the skin she'd bitten. She slid her tongue over the mark she left and licked up and down over the bruising imprints a few more times to give Regina some relief. When Regina collapsed back onto the mattress and heavily sighed as she relaxed, Emma pulled away.

"I can make you feel like I did in the palace or I can do worse than bite you," Emma said. "What's it going to be?"

"Emma," she softly began. "This isn't you."

"I'm the Dark One. This _is_ me. Don't forget why I'm like this, _Your Majesty_ ," Emma growled when she said Regina's former title.

"I could never forget," Regina confessed. "Do you think what you're doing now makes me happy?"

"Your happiness has nothing to do with me. I gave up everything for you, but that's as far as my involvement in your happy ending goes."

"Is it? Because you threatening to torture me if I don't tell you where the dagger is seems like further involvement in my happiness. How can I be happy when I'm being tortured?"

Another flash of a familiar emotion in green eyes. Regina saw a hint of the old Emma Swan in that moment and wondered if maybe it would stay a little longer. Maybe just long enough for Emma to leave the mansion for the night.

"I'm gonna find the dagger with or without your help, but you might regret it if you don't help." And just like that, she was gone with a flick of the wrist under the guise of dark, dark blue smoke.


	3. Chapter 3

**AN:** **There are two lines in here that are taken from Twitter because there are a few people who've tweeted filming spoilers that I just had to incorporate into this story.**

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It was a miracle she'd escaped the Charmings and their endless barrage of questions when they'd first returned from the Enchanted Forest the previous day. Unfortunately, she wasn't as lucky when she saw them the day after their not-so-Charming daughter came to visit her in the middle of the night.

That morning, Snow and Charming wanted to sit down and have breakfast with her. They insisted they meet at the apartment because the conversation they wanted to have was best discussed in private. They also had Neal, which made it easier if Regina came to them instead of packing the diaper bag, getting the stroller and carting Neal around. Regina had reluctantly agreed knowing the conversation was probably about Emma and she knew they needed to figure out a plan now that the Savior had become the Dark One. She also knew she needed to avoid questions about what happened in the Enchanted Forest, because while what happened wasn't entirely bad or Earth shattering it was definitely intense and something Emma's parents did _not_ need to know about either Emma or herself.

After the phone call from the Charmings "inviting" her over to talk, which had been a blatant demand on the couple's part, she was too distracted by her disdain for the imminent discomfort she would experience over breakfast; too distracted to double check her appearance before she left the house. Or at least before she informed Henry of her morning plans.

She hadn't forgotten the events of the previous night, but she had forgotten the end result of her run-in with the blonde. Henry paid the price for her forgetfulness.

"Henry," she announced before she opened the door to his room and peeked inside. He groaned and slowly sat up in bed as he rubbed the sleep from his eyes and glared at her with a furrowed brow. He wasn't upset with her, she knew, it was just how he reacted every time he woke up. "I'm going to your grandparents' to discuss some things. There's plenty of cereal and you can always call me if you need anything. I'm a poof away if it's important."

Henry nodded, still unable to speak as he tried to welcome himself back into reality, but he broke out of his usually sluggish morning routine when she turned to leave. "Uh, Mom?"

"Yes?" She turned back to him with an expectant look as she waited for him to either tell her something or ask for something.

"What happened to you," he asked.

She immediately furrowed her brow and frowned, noticeably confused by the question.

"Your neck," he said and motioned toward his own neck as he spoke. "It looks like...a bruise. A pretty bad one too."

She gasped and her eyes flew wide open. She shot a hand up to her neck and covered the mark she knew would be beneath her palm before she took a moment and trailed her fingers over the bruise. Almost the instant she touched the large and dark purple mark Emma left behind, her mind flashed back to that moment in her old palace where they first found Emma.

 _Emma released her grip around Regina's neck, which hadn't hurt her or prevented her from breathing at all. It had been secure but not tight and thankfully that meant there wouldn't be strangulation marks later. There would have been no easy way to cover them given the warm weather and it would have been even harder to explain them._

 _Emma smirked at her as she stood a little farther away. It gave Regina just enough space to breathe her own air again, but not far enough to give her the chance to run. She didn't want to leave though. She wouldn't bolt from Emma. The blonde was only the Dark One because of her, because the idiot just had to be a hero. She was as foolish to stop the darkness from consuming Regina as she had been when she'd jumped off the Jolly Roger in Neverland. It was nice to see some consistency from the younger woman, but Regina would have liked the consistency to show in other ways. Like being on time for things or actually listening to her._

 _But that wasn't Emma. It never was and hopefully, despite taking on Rumple's old job, it still never would be._

 _"Why did you do this," Regina quietly asked as her eyes wandered over pale skin, piercing green eyes, and the blonde's overall new look._

 _Emma frowned and furrowed her brow. A moment later she cocked her head to the side and practically pouted, apparently not appreciating the question Regina had dared to ask. "I didn't have a choice."_

 _"There's always a choice, Emma."_

 _The younger woman sighed and stepped closer again. She reached out and placed a hand on the wall beside Regina's head and leaned forward. Her eyes bore into Regina's, all amusement and mirth gone only to be replaced with complete determination and seriousness. "Fine. There's always a choice. And I chose you."_

 _Regina gulped, but didn't let the rest of her features betray her as she tried to remain as composed as possible. She wouldn't give Emma the satisfaction of seeing how those words affected her. She couldn't._

 _But it didn't matter what she showed or didn't show the other woman. Emma read her like a book. She saw right through Regina's neutral expression and unemotional, unwavering gaze. She smiled and brushed a lock of hair behind the brunette's ear._

 _"I did this partly so you could have another chance with Robin, but I guess he's not worthy of your attention or your affection," Emma purred and stroked her thumb across Regina's cheek._

 _The blonde's hand slipped lower and cupped her neck again, but she didn't press and her fingers grazed the back of it before they slightly threaded themselves into Regina's hair. She leaned in further and her eyes dropped to stare at Regina's lips before she dipped her head and rested their foreheads against each other._

 _Regina gasped and tried to pull back, but she was cornered._

 _There was a moment filled with sexual tension as Emma kept their foreheads pressed together, but when she no longer expected Emma to make any more moves Regina was mistaken and caught off guard. The blonde took the final step before she crashed her lips against Regina's and started a slow and searing kiss. Instantly, there was a spark between them and Regina's skin felt hotter than Hell as Emma stoked a familiar but long since experienced fire within her._

 _Emma's tongue slipped past her barely parted lips and while Regina normally would have hated such a bold intrusion and display of power and dominance over her, the brunette quietly moaned and didn't have the heart or mentality to push the other woman away. As their tongues fought for control before they danced together in_ almost _compliant unison, Regina quickly and effortless forgot about her time with Robin. She forgot how it felt to be with him in the vault and all the things they'd said to each other, which hadn't been much except for the small talk between their first and second round, and soon she forgot how to even care that they were supposed to be back together. She couldn't remember anything, couldn't focus on anything, other than Emma and how the younger woman felt pressed against her as they kissed over and over again._

 _Regina melted against the blonde and fell back into the wall to help keep herself steady and on her feet. It only took a few seconds after relying on the wall that Emma decided she didn't want the brunette grounded and suddenly the floor disappeared from underneath her. Emma had swept her off her feet, literally, and spun her toward the staircase. They didn't make it more than two steps before Regina felt herself surrounded by magic, which wasn't as familiar as it had been in years past, and reappeared somewhere with a crackling fire. Her eyes remained closed as she continued to enjoy the kiss so she wasn't sure which part of the palace they were in, but she heard the fire as it popped and sizzled. Her body temperature also rose yet again due to the heat she felt within the room._

 _Outside, fires and wool weren't necessary but within the palace walls there was little light and a crisp chill to the air. All except for in that particular room._

 _Regina moaned as Emma sucked on the tip of her tongue before she then gently bit her bottom lip and gave it a little tug. When Emma pulled away and ended the kiss, Regina slowly opened her eyes and finally looked around to see where the blonde had taken her. She immediately recognized the room as her own. There was the familiar bear skin in front of the fireplace and the chaise lounge to its left. The spacious and inviting bed across from the fireplace with candles on either side. It was the same as she had left it before she cast the curse and how she'd left it before the second one that Zelena had tampered with and made her own._

 _Her eyes fell to Emma again and the blonde stared back at her with a bright, bright smile of her own. Regina's heart fluttered at the sight. It was the longest she'd ever looked more like herself and less like the Dark One. In Regina's mind, she could easily see the red leather jacket and loose blonde curls instead of the bun and lack of eye makeup paired with the intense red lipstick she displayed now. In a flash, they glided across the room and she was dropped onto the bed._

 _Emma hovered over her for a moment and her smile remained as she closed the space between them so that her body slid up and pressed against Regina's. Emma's feet remained on the floor while Regina lay on her back and the younger woman's hips slipped between her slightly spread legs. It hadn't exactly been her choice of position, but she definitely wasn't complaining when Emma leaned down and kissed her again._

 _Slowly, the kisses started to trail from her lips down to her neck and further. It wasn't long before Emma's hot mouth started to devour as much of her chest as she had access to. It elicited a few breathy sounds and a couple of moans from Regina as she tipped back her head and arched into the younger woman above her._

 _She felt a hand slide down between their bodies before Emma tried to make it disappear beneath the waistband of her pants, and probably her panties as well, but that was the final straw. Regina's hands went to Emma's shoulders and added a little resistance while her legs and pelvis insisted on going further. Fortunately for Regina, her mind won the battle between taking things to the next level with Emma and getting the hell out of there. She really didn't want to leave the blonde because it was so very clear she needed to pull Emma out of the darkness before it was too late, but Regina couldn't help if she stuck around in that particular moment. She was sure the only thing she would do if she stayed was let Emma take her right then and there, knowing the blonde's parents and boyfriend along with her_ own _boyfriend, waited outside for both of them to return._

 _"Stop," Regina said as she managed to push Emma back. The blonde's hand hooked into the top of her pants, but didn't move inside. The heel of her palm hovered over Regina's clothed sex and if Emma really wanted to, she could have used that to her advantage and pressed teasingly against sensitive places._

 _But Emma didn't. And whatever dark urges she'd had before, when she started their heated make out and a moment filled with promise for good,_ good _things to come, were buried as soon as she heard the word "stop." It wasn't too late. There was still a chance to bring Emma back from the power hungry darkness that had previously overtook Rumpelstiltskin._

 _"We can't do this," Regina said._

 _"Why not? We both seem_ more _than willing," Emma grinned, but again she refused to move her hand any lower and didn't lean back in for another kiss._

 _"Because you know why I'm here, why we're_ all _here. Storybrooke is where you belong. Not here."_

 _"Yeah, well, I'm also not supposed to be the Dark One, but look at where we are."_

 _"We can change that, Emma. You know we can. You_ asked _us to before you made your bold and idiotic sacrifice."_

 _"I may have wanted to be saved then, and maybe a part of me still does now, but I promise you I don't-and never will-regret what I did. I may not be as twisted as Gold yet, but what I feel right now isn't great. It's gonna get worse and I just know...I know that even if I wasn't aware of how shitty it is to be me right now, I wouldn't want you to go through this."_

 _"You treat me like I'm fragile. Do you also forget that I've been through it before? I_ was _the Evil Queen."_

 _"Yeah, you've been the darkest_ _part of yourself before. But look at how much you've changed. That shouldn't go to waste just because your heart called out to the damn darkness that makes the Dark One who they are. Besides, you're important, Regina. Way too important to let you go through this when I knew I could have stopped it."_

 _Regina scoffed. "_ I'm _important. I'm a once Evil Queen._ You're _the Savior."_

 _"I_ was _the Savior. And not a very good one. You're also more than a 'once Evil Queen' and you know it."_

 _"Do I?"_

 _"You should."_

 _"Well, I certainly don't see how I'm more valuable than you."_

 _Emma flashed her another smile, one that was still more like the blonde than anything else. "Because you don't see yourself the way I see you."_

 _"And how is it that you see me?" Regina realized as soon as she'd said those words that she had once had that same conversation a long time ago. It had been when the Genie had gifted her with a looking glass so that she could see herself the way he saw her._

 _Emma chuckled and shook her head. She let go of Regina's pants and stepped away before she offered her hand to the brunette to help her stand._

 _"Maybe one day you'll see for yourself." Emma's answer was vastly different from the Genie's and Regina felt her heart skip a beat. She preferred Emma's response far more than she'd ever cared for Sidney's, although at the time he'd called her beautiful she'd needed to hear it since she was only a possession to the King. Compliments were reserved for Snow and given very sparingly to her, not that his words conveyed any meaning when he_ did _compliment her. It was all for show._

 _"I'd ask you what you're thinking about, but we both know you probably wouldn't tell me," Emma said and she was immediately pulled out of her thoughts of a life she'd lived long ago._

 _She finally accepted Emma's hand and allowed the blonde to pull her up. She sat on the edge of the bed for a moment and continued to stare at the younger woman in front of her, their hands still linked._

 _"If you want me to come to Storybrooke, I'm going to need something," Emma said and then gently squeezed Regina's hand._

 _Regina tugged on it a little as she used Emma to help herself to stand. Once she was back on her feet, she asked, "What do you want?"_

"Mom!"

Regina blinked and shook her head as she snapped out of it. When she came back to reality, she noticed Henry was more awake than he'd been when she first came into his room. He stared at her with questioning eyes and an otherwise confused expression. She sighed as she realized she'd lost herself in memories that shouldn't have been so fresh in her mind, but she found that she just couldn't escape her initial run in with the new Emma Swan.

"Sorry, Henry. Were you saying something?"

"Only about a hundred times," he replied while he stood up and walked over to her. "Are you okay? You zoned out for a while."

She shouldn't have let Henry get that close to her. She noticed her mistake as soon as his eyes moved back down to further inspect her bruise.

"Mom," he said with suddenly wide eyes and then looked up at her. "Someone _bit_ you!"

Regina closed her eyes while Henry's gaze went right back to the distinct mark Emma so rudely gave her. When she opened her eyes again, she watched Henry look from the large bruise to her again.

"I know you don't like telling me anything, but this is serious. What happened? Who did that to you?"

"It's not a problem, Henry."

"Uh, I think it is. Someone clearly thinks they're a vampire now because they bit your neck. Hard."

"Yes, I'm well aware."

"Why are you so calm about it?"

"It's complicated."

"Because you let it happen?"

"I didn't let-" she stopped herself before she said too much and sighed before she spoke again. "I'm not worried about it so you shouldn't be either."

Henry stared at her and assessed her like he couldn't just take her word for it. He probably couldn't. He normally believed everything. Except the lies she and Emma told him.

She knew she shouldn't keep secrets from him, especially after he demanded to be kept in the loop and the fact that more than half of the time the lies they told to protect him only managed to hurt him or get him into trouble, but she really wasn't ready to have a discussion with him about one mother biting the other and claiming it didn't mean anything. How well could that conversation go with an inquisitive twelve year old?

"Is it a sexual thing," he asked and in an instant she felt unsteady on her feet, completely shocked that he thought that could possibly be the reason she wouldn't tell him about the bite. Which technically was true, but they'd never talked about sex before. Maybe he had with Emma the year they were in New York, but she knew for a fact that she had only ever discussed kissing and relationships with him. Never sex.

"No," she denied a little too loudly.

Henry's expression changed from confusion to disbelief. She wouldn't have believed herself either if she were in his shoes.

"It's not... Sometimes people bite other people for other reasons," she explained.

"Yeah, but those people are little kids. Unless you were bitten by a three year old, it _has_ to be a sex thing."

Regina wanted to groan, but stifled it after she struggled to resist the urge. "No. Not this time."

" _This_ time? So you're telling me you've been bitten before and it _was_ a sex thing?"

Why was this even a discussion? She didn't have the time, patience, or apparently the right words to talk about this with him.

"That's not what I'm saying."

"Then why can't you just tell me what happened?"

"Because right now I'd like to keep it to myself. Now I have to go. I'll see you later and then we can talk about how you know biting can sometimes be sexual," she said with a firm look and raised eyebrow. It was a face, paired with her tone of voice, that told him there would be no argument. They were going to talk about it and there was nothing he could do to get out of it.

"Okay," he said. "But you should probably do something to hide that before you see Grandma and Grandpa. Because if you don't I'm sure they're going to ask you why hanging out with Robin is suddenly more important than saving Ma."

"It's not," she immediately clarified. "This isn't-"

Again, she stopped herself. It was better to let him believe her boyfriend was the cause of the bite mark because if she told him it wasn't, he either wouldn't believe that or he'd just start asking more questions.

"Nothing is more important than saving Emma," Regina chose to say, and it was the truth. "If I ever make you think otherwise, I'm sorry and I don't mean to do that. All that matters now is finding a way to destroy the darkness once and for all and bring our Emma back."

Henry nodded and finally ceased with all questions. She was sure he had plenty more, but he kept them to himself for the time being. For that and his reminder to conceal the mark, she was grateful.


	4. Chapter 4

**Author's Note:Trigger Warning - Regina experiences some unwanted physical contact.**

* * *

They stared at her. Actually, it was more like glared. The Charmings were in a mood and definitely not a good one. Regina understood that. Emma was their daughter. Their daughter they couldn't raise because they gave her up in fear of Regina's curse. And now Emma was the Dark One, lost to them again for an indefinite amount of time and they knew Regina was the only one to have contact with the blonde since her noble but very idiotic sacrifice. Honestly, Regina would have been fine if the darkness had swallowed her whole. It wouldn't have been the first time and everyone including Emma knew it.

But that was why Emma had done it, why she had taken on the darkness in her place. Because she knew Regina had already fought the darkness. She knew Regina had struggled with it and then gave in to it and then fought it again for Henry.

" _You've fought too hard to have your happiness destroyed,"_ echoed in her mind for the millionth time since that night.

Regina was grateful that she had someone on her side again, had _Emma_ of all people on her side, but because of the younger woman's actions Regina had to suffer the consequences. And the consequences were Emma's pissed off and over-protective parents.

"Have you heard from her," Snow asked, her voice snippy and tense. She reminded Regina of days in the castle when petulance was at the top of the girl's list of things to do for the day whether it had been a conscious decision or not on Snow's part.

"If I had, why would I tell you," Regina replied with a question of her own, her tone as defiant as her expression.

"Because we deserve to know," Charming stepped in with his near booming voice. His blue eyes were sharp with determination and frustration. Most people would think not to mess with him in that state, but all Regina could think was how much he looked like Emma in that moment.

She took a quick breath in and raised her shoulders, her body rigid from the discomfort caused by the situation. She only wished she brought Henry with her to divert the Charmings' attention from her every so often. But she loved Henry and she knew the conversation she was going to have with Snow and Charming wasn't for him to overhear. Because she was sure even if he sat with them that things would still escalate and get ugly. She might have had mixed feelings about the couple that stood across from her in the rundown apartment's kitchen, but she didn't want Henry to be stuck in the middle. She didn't want him to think badly of either his grandparents or her if things did end up poorly unfolding, which was exactly what happened.

Regina sighed and picked at the peeling wood at the edge of the countertop before she said, "It doesn't matter if I've seen her or not. Clearly she hasn't visited you and that's all that should concern you. If she wants to see you, if she wants to _talk_ to you, she would."

David lifted both of his hands to his face and ran them down from his forehead to his chin. He sighed as he quickly smacked his hands onto the counter and stared down at her where she sat in one of two stools. "We just want to know she's alright," he explained. "And if she's coming to you, we want to know what we did to make her want to stay away."

"She forgave us before she became the Dark One," Snow said, her eyes softer and a little sad and panicked. "Or at least we thought she had. You have to understand what it's like not to be able to see her or convince her that we love her no matter what."

Regina nodded and said, "Of course I understand. It's not as if Henry has always believed me or accepted my love."

Snow looked down at the floor for a moment and then sheepishly nodded her head in agreement. She looked up again and met Regina's gaze and said, "We just want her back. If you know anything, if you've seen her and know where she is or how to get in touch with her, we just want to know. We _need_ to know what to do, what we _can_ do."

Regina shook her head and confessed, "I don't have any helpful information. I don't know where she is. I don't know when she'll come back here. I don't know why she hasn't come to you. I can only speculate. I just know that whatever she forgave you for happened before absorbing all that darkness.

"I've lived through it and I even felt the intensity of the darkness that surrounded Emma before it claimed her and made her the Dark One. It's heavy and dangerous and it doesn't care about forgiveness. It picks at all your insecurities and amplifies them so all you see and all you feel is hurt and anger. All you want is power and sometimes you'll want revenge. That's all I know."

It wasn't a complete lie. There was truth in some of what she said, but she probably could have given them a little more information. She could have told them she had seen Emma. She could have told them Emma's next move would probably be to see Henry. She could have told them what had transpired overnight, but there was no point. None of that information would have helped them. And she did believe that Emma would have gone to see her parents if she truly wanted to hash things out with them, or at least let them know what had become of her and what it meant for her to be the new Dark One.

She'd zoned out for a moment and when her vision refocused, she looked up to see Charming's eyes on her. His brow was furrowed and he looked confused about something. While that wasn't different from most of his life, it was an odd thing to see from him when seconds ago he'd been so sure of all the points both he and Snow had made.

"What," she asked and furrowed her own brow, except she wasn't confused. She was slightly angry because his attention never left her. So clearly he thought there was something wrong or troubling about her.

"Why are you wearing a scarf? It's not that cold outside," he said.

She gulped and her eyes widened. She nervously brought a hand to the scarf and readjusted it around her neck, careful not to pull it too far up or down to reveal what she was desperately trying to hide. But her efforts were futile. Charming kept staring at her and his eyes went from the scarf to her eyes and back again while Snow slipped around the counter and moved closer to her.

Regina shifted away from Snow and looked back and forth between the two of them, but as she focused on Snow and swatted the other woman's hand away from her scarf she completely missed Charming's movement in her peripheral. She was too late to stop Charming as he tugged her scarf down and immediately startled her. She was trapped between their bodies and there had been no warning before Charming touched her.

She shot off the stool and stumbled backward as she physically lashed out at Charming. She slapped at his hands, arms, and chest. It was too much. Her space had been invaded and she didn't like to be touched or even approached without warning. But even with her jittery, spastic reaction it still hadn't been enough to keep her secret. Charming had seen. She saw it in his eyes and slack-jaw expression.

"You have a hickey," he stated and thus proved to her that he really had seen the mark. The mark his _daughter_ left the previous night in her bed.

"Regina?"

She turned and saw Snow stare at her in shock. There was also a hint of disapproval in her eyes. The short haired woman crossed her arms over her chest and expectantly raised an eyebrow like a mother about to scold their child for breaking curfew.

"Here we are worried sick about Emma and you're off getting your kicks with Robin instead of doing everything you can to help get Emma back," Snow chided as predicted.

"It's not a hickey," she refuted, which was a weak argument despite its truth. A hickey meant kisses or at least a little more than what Emma had done, which was only to bite and not soothe.

Snow surged forward and yanked off the scarf. The red and purple bite mark showed in stark contrast to her olive skin, the impression of Emma's teeth dark and large on her otherwise unblemished and unmarred neck. Snow gasped and shook her head. "I can't believe you. Of all the things—Emma sacrificed herself for you!"

"You think I don't know that," Regina yelled back, and in a moment of self-preservation she was ready to break both of their hearts—or at least Snow's split in half heart—and tell them everything.

"How are you still able to find the time let alone get in the mood to… _be_ with Robin," Snow asked.

"I—" Regina stopped herself. She choked on the words that would have been easy, so easy, to say. She looked at both of them and decided it wasn't worth it and it really wouldn't make her feel better to have all the factual information of her run-in with Emma out there. She deflated and chose instead to say, "It just happened. It wasn't planned and I needed a break anyway."

Charming huffed and looked down as he then shook his head. Both of them looked like disapproving parents in that moment. Regina should have cared, should have screamed at them that there wasn't a damn thing she _wasn't_ doing to figure out how they could save Emma, but she couldn't do that. She knew if she were in their place-if it had been Henry-she wouldn't have wanted to know all the sordid details of what he'd done as the Dark One. The only thing that would matter would be to bring him back from the darkness, just as it was all that mattered to bring Emma back from it now.

"I hope you understand," Regina carefully started to admit, "I am doing my best to get her back. I'm trying my hardest to find the answer and not because you demand it, but because Henry wants it, too. And...Emma had my back even when I pushed her away. So now I have hers."

Snow's anger faded and she looked more understanding, a little _too_ understanding for Regina's comfort actually. She looked like she knew more than she was letting on, like there was something she knew that no one else did including Regina herself.

Charming just looked surprised, but not unhappy to hear what Regina said. He seemed content to know Regina was invested for more than the sake of just doing the right thing, because situations such as theirs weren't fixed by just any do-gooders. They were fixed by people with heart, people that had something to lose by not going to the end of the world—or worlds in their case—and back for those in trouble.

"I'm in this," Regina added. "I'm not giving up. Because I did everything to try to protect her from this. I could have lost Robin because of it when Rumple forced me to make a choice. I fought to keep her away from this before it happened and now I'm going to fight to bring her back from this now that it has."

She clenched her fists at her sides as she felt the weight of her confession. Her chest burned from the emotion that laced her words, the truth and commitment behind her declaration so heavy in a way she hadn't felt since—

 _"I loved him. I loved him!"_

Regina gasped at the connection between that memory and determination to save Emma from the darkness and, if it got to that point before they figured it out, herself. When she looked at Snow again, she noticed the slight curl of her lips. The woman was smiling ever so subtly and Regina didn't know why Snow would be happy just then, but she knew she wanted to slap the expression away.

"I should go," Regina finally said. "I can't very well do any research here. If you need me, you know my number."

She fled the Charming's apartment with a wildly beating heart and shallow breaths. She had to use the railing to keep her balance as she hurried down the stairs and out of the building. Her hands shook as they came to rest on the steering wheel of her Mercedes and she had to take a moment to collect herself before she could actually start the car. When she finally arrived home, she dropped her purse and keys on the end table in the foyer and puffed out a harsh breath before she ran her hands through her hair. She clutched at the tips of brunette waves at her shoulders for a moment before slowly releasing her grip and leaning onto the end table, a palm pressed against the top of the table to steady her.

"Why didn't you tell them it was me," she heard a familiar voice slice through the still air of her quiet, empty house.

Her reaction was less dramatic than it had been when Charming had crept into her personal space, but she still jumped at the sound of Emma's voice. She hadn't expected anyone else to be at the house and she certainly hadn't expected Emma to know about her conversation with Snow and Charming, especially when she'd only just had it with them moments before the other woman had popped into the mansion unannounced.

Regina turned and faced Emma who stood in the foyer with her, but leaned back against the frame of the entryway to the sitting room. Regina swallowed and sucked in a deep breath through her nose before she spoke. "Do you know of any reason I should have?"

"At least they'd know you weren't slacking off," Emma said. "They think you got all slutty with Robin when all they're concerned about, and all they think _you should_ be concerned about, is me."

"They can be upset with me all they want for what they believe happened. It doesn't matter that it's your teeth that marked me, it just matters that we save you," Regina said and took a step toward the younger woman, but still kept her distance.

"Well, I don't think it's fair to me that _Robin_ is getting credit for my work," Emma argued and pushed off of the entryway frame. "I marked you and I think people should know. Not everybody, but my parents and definitely Robin. I think since you didn't tell my parents that maybe you should tell _him_ first. I also want to be there when you do."

"I'm not going to tell him," she insisted.

"Why not," Emma asked with a grin and stalked forward like a hunter approaching its prey.

"You only want him to know you did this so you can stake your claim over me. It's the possessive nature that's been brought out by the darkness inside of you, the darkness of all the previous Dark Ones."

Emma hummed, her grin still present, and moved into Regina's space. The brunette felt the other woman's breath on her nose and cheeks.

"Yes, all of their darkest sins and tainted thoughts. I have to live with that, but the longer it takes you to bring back your precious Savior the easier it gets for me to _enjoy_ the sick things they did. You know, the first few Dark Ones had control of themselves when they did what they did. They _wanted_ to do all the twisted things I can see so clearly in my head. But there are so many others who didn't have control of the dagger. They had to do what _other_ fucked up people wanted them to do because they either didn't want to get their hands dirty or couldn't do it themselves."

Emma reached up and ran a few fingers through a section of Regina's hair. She smirked as she twirled a strand around her index finger and then the smirk instantly vanished and was replaced with a firm, less than friendly expression. Emma's fingers released Regina's hair and her hand thumped onto Regina's shoulder. The younger woman's thumb lightly pressed into the hollow of Regina's throat and in one swift move, Emma forced Regina against the nearest wall.

Regina closed her eyes and grunted when she felt the wall behind her. Her shoulders took the brunt of the pain. She opened her eyes and looked straight into green eyes that were so focused and much more menacing than they had been in some time. She looked more like the woman Regina had fought tooth and nail to keep away from Henry the first year she'd been in Storybrooke and less like the friend she'd come to know in recent months.

"There are so many things in my head now. Creative things, things I'm sure even the _Evil Queen_ never did, lines you never crossed. All of them are inspiring, really, and I could do many of them to you," Emma threatened. She was close enough to Regina that their noses almost touched.

Emma had her pinned to the wall. Regina knew she was a poof away from safety and space, but Emma could just as easily poof back into it and do whatever it was she was eluding to while the woman had her trapped in her own home. There was no rush or reason to escape Emma's clutches. She was better off challenging the other woman instead of running. So she did.

"Do your worst," Regina growled. "If that's really what you want. If it's not, you should really stop wasting both of our time." She wrapped a hand around Emma's wrist and yanked it away from her throat. She almost threw it down to Emma's side and moved away from the wall, but Emma's reflexes were even quicker than before and the younger woman shoved her back again.

"Remember that you asked for this," Emma hissed before she crashed their lips together and roughly pulled Regina's bottom lip between her teeth.

Emma raised Regina's arms above her head and slammed her wrists into the wall. Her body covered Regina's from chest to feet and just as Regina opened her mouth and gasped, Emma bit down on her lip.

Regina clenched her fists where they were held above her by both of Emma's hands and a strangled cry fell from her mouth. Her breath puffed against Emma's face and it only spurred the woman on. She squirmed against the wall and turned her head to the side, which effectively broke the aggressive, not-quite kiss. Emma didn't hesitate, however, and her lips brushed her hair and neck just below her ear before she spoke huskily into it.

"I won't take what you won't give, but just know that I _could_ ," Emma said. "And know that for every misdeed any of the former Dark Ones have ever done, your face easily replaces their victim's faces in my mind."

Emma let go of her wrists and threw herself off of Regina. She stood a few steps away from the brunette and stared for a long moment as Regina lowered her arms and smoothed out her clothes while she tried to regulate her shallow breathing.

Regina looked up and locked eyes with Emma and several seconds passed before Emma finally disappeared in a swirl of gray smoke. When the other woman was gone, Regina slid down to the floor and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. Her descent to the floor was graceful but the swipe of her hand over her lips was not. She rested her head in her hand, the same one that had made a somewhat sloppy attempt to rid herself of the evidence of Emma's actions, and just sat in silence on the floor. After several minutes, Regina finally picked herself up and went to her room where she took a shower, changed clothes, and waited for Henry's return from school.


End file.
